3 Degrees of Separation: My Girl Jackie O

So by know you probably know I am obsessed with my girl, Jackie O. Can you imagine my excitement when I received a cookbook written by Marta Sgubin who knew Jackie personally? Seriously, 3 tiny degrees of separation between me and my idol.

Marta started out as a governess to Caroline and John and then her role changed to become a housekeeper and finally Jackie's friend. Marta is a gifted cook so naturally her role included cooking for Jackie, whom she affectionately called "Madam", and the family. The pictures in the book, Cooking for Madam are so intimate and personal and I cant wait to try some of the amazing recipes. First on my list, Summer Spaghetti Salad. It looks delicious!

Ever so elegant, Jackie.

Personal note from Marta to me on the front cover.

Marta's cookbook

I am for sure going to put one of my Hampton Paper cookbook labels in the front of this book!

Back to School: Cake Idea

Love, love , love this cake idea from the Sept issue of FoodNetwork Magazine. I totally cant wait to make it for my back to school party..... I mean have my husband or sister in law make it!

On My Bookshelf: New Books Just Arrived

Looking forward to reading my new books that arrived from Amazon yesterday.

Books by Beth Harbison, Daisy Goodwin, J. Courtney Sullivan.

Back to School: Family Calendar

This is the must have accessory for a busy family to get ready for back to school.

What day is today? What are we doing today? How many days till we go to the movies? Are these questions you field every day? I do and I love to share the week's agenda with my kids. It's a great way for everyone to get organized and for my children to visually see and understand what we are going to be doing for the week.

I love it too as I can quicky see at a glance where everyone is and as a busy working mom, make an attempt to not forget something that has to go into school on a certain day or an imporant event. For example, show and share day and topic, green shirt day etc. (you know how easy it is to overlook these events and the amt of guilt that is carried when you miss it)

Hampton Paper's Calendar is adorned with some of our best selling images that reflect some of the activities you and your family will be doing each week.

Personalize with 5 names and a "Notes" section or up to 6 names. Feel free to include your pet's name - we know they are part of the family too!

(30) 8 1/2 by 11 pages bound. $28.00. Aslo available on Etsy too.

Back to School: Party Invitations

I am in full party planning mode for Thomas' back to school party. I plan to invite his class so he has an opportunity to get to know his classmates. In addition I thought it would be fun for the kids to do a volunteer activity. Looks like there is plenty of opportunity for us to create care packages of food for those in need for weekend meals.

I am looking forward to sharing the planning process with you.

Wait till you see the great cake idea I found in this month's Food Network Magazine.

Hampton Paper Invitation (done on a correspondence card) 24 for $40.00

Back to School: Buddy Cards

Love, Love, Love these new Hampton Paper Buddy cards for kids!! They are great for your children to stay in touch with friends they have made at camp, kids they meet in school or at sporting activities. Exchanging these cards will ensure an easy way for them to set up time to hang out with on the weekend.

Hampton Paper Buddy Cards 27 for $28.00. Envelopes included.


Red Race Car on Etsy

Pink Phone on Etsy

Back to School - Lunch Box Notes

Hampton Paper Lunch Box notes are the perfect way make your child's lunch more special. Wish them good luck on a test or at a sporting event or just let them know you are thinking of them! It will surely be something they will remember for years to come!

150 sheets of 4 x 4 notepad paper in an acrylic tray for $26.00. As always, any image is available. Available today on Etsy




The truck is Jackson's favorite new image. He was thrilled when there was an actual dump truck in the back yard when the pool was built. Ohhh to seek joy in such small things!

Clearly the bus is my new fav image. I cant get enough if its charm!

I re-wrote this like 5 times. I have the worst handwriting. It makes me cringe!

Here are a few image and wording ideas. Fonts are 1. Rockford 2. Burst My Bubble 3. Carlton and 4. Topeka.

Back to School: Photo Cards

So excited to send out my back to school cards this year using our new photo card option. Select you favorite image, send us the text for personalization and the photo and we will send you a proof to review. Starting at 24 for $60.00. Order them today on Etsy.

Glittering on a Rainy Day.

Glittering 2012 calendars for The Elegant Setting today. Catching up on my fav shows I have missed this summer - Royal Pains and Drop Dead Diva. 20 shipped on Friday and shipping 36 more on Monday.

The Nest Egg

I know I am suppose to be working on back to school blogs and I am but I got distracted by my recent purchases from The Nest Egg in Fairfax Corner. Let me just warn you, if you go in there you will want to purchase everything. I swear. I always tell Greg I will run in quickly and only be a minute but like clock work 20 min later my cell rings and I hear "Where are you? You said you'd only be a minute".....

This fabric was on 2 floor stools and I fell in love. I was afraid to ask for pricing for custom pillows as they were just for my basement and I didn't want to spend 3-$400.00 on them. I was SHOCKED at how reasonable they were - I think less than $75.00 each. For custom pillows? WOW. I love they way they look on my leather sofas. You may recall these were moved from my family room to the basement when we replaced them. Love, Love Love! (pls ignore the mess of little people toys in the background and the sea foam paint on the walls!)

Love this cute toy holder from 3 sprouts. I looked at them probably 5 times before purchasing. Should have bought them the first time.

Awesome catch all for all my kids junk, I mean treasures.

This was one of my first purchases from The Nest Egg a few years back. I love simplicity and classic nature of these baby prints from Spicher and Co They now hang in Jackson's room. They have a great portfolio of prints - something for every room in your house.

Back to School: Stickers, Journals & Luggage Tags

Personalized Journal $28.00. Square Solid Stickers 27 for $18.00

Personalized Luggage Tags 2 for $12.00

Stickers, Journals and Luggage Tags are essentials for back to school this year! I use 1 luggage tag on Thomas' backpack and the other on his lunch box.

Stickers are Essential! Let your child select the image from our portfolio of over 300. Need some wording ideas?

___________ Stuff!

This belongs to _________

Property of __________

From the Library of ________

This book belongs to _________

From the Desk of ___________

Back to School?

Is it time to start thinking about back to school already? I am still enjoying summer!

If you have back to school on your mind, then you will love our blog this week which will be dedicated to helping you get all some of the "essentials" and some "just for fun" things to check off your list!

If you are planning a back to school party like I am, these Hershey Bars and Wrappers will be a nice addition. They were a huge hit at Thomas Wimpy Kid party and I know those who attended that party will be on the look out for them as soon as they arrive. (kids have the best memories dont they?). We are working on a new product with personalized Hershey bar wrappers that you can put in your child's lunch for a special occasion. We should have this available next week.

Love, love, love our school bus image.

Another favorite. Lucy painted this as the logo for my blog. The name is based on a restaurant in NYC that my Grandpa Barney use to take me too in the 80s.

Perfect for you little rock star!

25 Hershey Bars and Custom Wrappers $75.00. Hampton Paper Designs

The Perfect Baby Gift

I know I promised to share a new Hampton Paper product with you this week and I didn't want let you down!

So, here it is.... a beautiful decorative baby pillow that is really the perfect gift for a new baby! Classic and timeless and those of us who have brought a newborn home from the hospital you know how fabulous it is to see the baby's name written out!

There are two format options to choose from; image on top or image in the center.

Choose from 8 embroidered images: Pink Elephant, Green Elephant, Giraffe, Whale, Dog, Alligator, Boat or Wagon.

I am totally spoiling a surprise with this blog by showing the completed pillow but I just couldn't wait to share these with you. We will have it up on the web site soon but if you just cant wait, send me an email! ($60.00 each)

Shipping this gift tomorrow to a very special baby!

Totally my favorite. Love this font!

This one is great for a boy or girl.

This is a great options for someone who loves dogs.

Love the color combo on this one -so soothing.

All time favorite image from our clients. Those wheels get you every time!

Another great option for a boy or girl.

Poolside Cafe

Big day on the pool today! Tile work goes in and then it's just installing the patio, plaster and the fence! We are down to the final 2 weeks. Yep, just in time for the end of the summer. Now that the pool is almost ready I began to think of what we might serve at our poolside cafe. Then I got to thinking about a menu. So, you can probably guess where this is going ... Hampton Paper menu cards! Wait till you see how great they look. I think I will need one with cocktails for happy hour too. This is going to be great!

We nurtured the cement for 7 days like good new parents watering it several times a day due to the excessive heat. You can start to see the shape of the pool and the benches and hot tub.

The steel grid was put in prior to the cement. This looked like such a complicated process and unfortunately for the construction workers was installed in 100 degree heat. We brought out coolers of cold drink for the workmen.

After the initial hole was dug, rocks were added.

Just a few weeks ago work began. I am glad I have this photo of why my grass use to look like!

Shhhh...The Baby is Sleeping

Thomas's Nursery in our old house. Loved that monogram so much! Can you see the bumper in the crib? I only used it in the photo. (in retrospect a waste of money...ohh but I had to have the complete bedding set when I ordered it!). The bedding is from Peacock Alley.com

Another angle of the nursery. That little chair that matched was a great shower gift I received.

I made a custom bulletin board with the fabric and hung up birth announcements, pictures, birthday invitations etc from friends. Also on the wall I framed the Crane's birth announcement, a calling card from William Arthur and my baby shower invitation. This is a great and inexpensive way to personalize a nursery.

Jackson's room "before" - a lonely bare wall.

Corinne getting the stencil ready

Ta Da!!

"Shhh, the baby is sleeping" are words I never had the opportunity to utter since my oldest son, Thomas, never slept. That didnt stop me from spending time in his nursery as it was my favorite room in my old house.

The color was the perfect green (1/2 Sagey from Behr) and the creme de le creme was the monogram on the wall painted by Corinne Marlowe. It was a great addition to the room - so my style - classic, crisp and totally personalized! ( I did have this idea before it was in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. just sayin'......)

When I moved Thomas to a big boy room and called Corrine to change the monogram I was so emotional about it. I just loved that little TMB on the wall! I watched in sadness as she painted over the T and B and added a J and L.

I recently called Corrine to have her paint a monogram on Jackson's room. I decided to keep the same green as I just loved the Central Park Toile fabric. I had a duvet made for Jackson bed and I figured I could get another year out of it before Jackson is too old and will consider it babyish.

When I invited Corrine to come by - she was surprised I hadn't cut out the wall board before I moved. If I had thought it was possible I would have! Luckily for a mere $150.00 I was able to recreate one of the things I miss most about my first house.

First 3 photos by Tina Bazala Photography. I had to scan them in as circa 2003 film was still the optimal choice for professional photography!